No Kids, Gnu Year! Ringing in 2018 at WDW! **Complete 8/31**

[Lesley Wake]

I am typing this while wearing my rose gold spirit jersey. It's so beautiful. How did I manage life before the shop parks app?? (quite well actually, but I sure wouldn't have this shirt without it!) Nothing rose gold was anywhere on property during this entire trip.

Did you see the new princess inspired spirit jerseys? They are adorable! Maybe they'll make their way out to Florida or onto the app soon!

 

[kastoney]

I'm with ya on life taking away from the DIS. This is my happy place, but there just isn't enough time in the day.

Looks like you all had a great day at MGM. I absolutely loved all the Xmas decorations there, especially the deer There was such a nostalgic quality to it, it just made me happy!

Glad to see you all had a good meal at HBD. We had a bad for the record books one several years back and DH just won't let us return. I'd love to give at least the lounge a try though.

 

[xlsm]

Okay, finished the rest up!

so I totally bought that drink (or one similar) in like 2010 specifically because of the glow cube. I saw someone get it, my head whipped around, and I was like "I need that" lol.

I did! I don't think Belle is out yet, but the Ariel and Snow ones are so super pretty! I would love it if they would actually put a Merida one out (doubtful, I know). I want one, but must resist! (though now I have 3 spirit jerseys and I also have odd numbers so like there's that)

He started a trend with his glow drink b/c the guy at the table next to us ordered one too!! And spoiler for NYE, they were selling glasses that lit up OR glasses with a glow cube with the special NYE drinks and I had to pick up a light up glass (well, it was plastic, but you know!) Everyone was walking around with glowing cups, I could not be left out!

Oh, a Merida one would be SO PRETTY!! In the dark green of her dress with reddish orangey glitter on the front and back to match her hair but not make it look like Christmas. I would buy the crap out of that! I'd like a Tiana one, too!

I didn't realize OMD now has models of Galaxy's Edge need to stop by next month
Love ToT my favorite ride that standby line is crazy
I can't believe when you're sitting on the curb people stood in front of you
We love the BD I had the filet last time and it was amazing glad you enjoyed it
We have an ADR for our trip next month looking forward to their martini flight
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Oh yes, definitely stop in to see the models for Galaxy's Edge, they're really cool. They're in the back near the meet and greet for Star Lord/Groot.

I could not believe the standby line for ToT! I know wait times for it have been longer due to GMR closing and RnR having issues sometimes in the mornings, but the way they had to extend the queue on this day was nuts!

Haha, I think I finally reached the point where nothing people do in the parks shocks me anymore. This NYE trip really hit that home for me - people can just be really caught up in their own little worlds.

Ooh, the martini flight looks good - i love drink flights, I need to order them more!

Did you see the new princess inspired spirit jerseys? They are adorable! Maybe they'll make their way out to Florida or onto the app soon!
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I LOOOVE the princess jerseys!! They are so pretty! I don't think I'll be able to resist once they hit the app.

I'm with ya on life taking away from the DIS. This is my happy place, but there just isn't enough time in the day.

Looks like you all had a great day at MGM. I absolutely loved all the Xmas decorations there, especially the deer There was such a nostalgic quality to it, it just made me happy!

Glad to see you all had a good meal at HBD. We had a bad for the record books one several years back and DH just won't let us return. I'd love to give at least the lounge a try though.

Darn life. I don't want to live in reality, LOL!! Sometimes writing these updates takes me for-ev-er and the thought of sitting down long enough to crank one out is overwhelming!

This was definitely the longest day we've ever spent at DHS (it's still not over i hate that the star wars dessert party was so late on this night). The decorations there are just so perfect for the overall ambiance of the park. It keeps the old Hollywood glam around a little while longer...and the retro vibe of the decorations takes me back to my grandparent's old tree decorations!! It makes me remember how fun it was as a little kid for all those boxes to come out of storage and how excited I was to help my grandma set everything up. She's the reason I go all out at Christmastime, and she would have loved to see my house all done up.

Oh no!! It's so hard to go back somewhere when you've had an experience that bad. Jumping ahead in this report with a spoiler, but that's kind of how we feel about Jiko now. Our meal there was so disappointing, and it was on our last full night - was supposed to have been our last big hurrah. Instead it resulted in an unfinished dinner for me and grabbing some zebra domes to go from The Mara. I have no desire to go back at all.
As for HBD, it's one of those places I've made reservations for several times and ended up cancelling, so I was definitely glad it worked out and was worth it this time!

 

[Momee]

Following along! (Fellow (former-6yrs will wear one out) PTO pres. and OoTM coach here!!) I understand your busyness!
A honey-trip! Love!
You're brave for taking on the NYE crowds! Can't wait to hear what all you both did!

 

[xlsm]

Following along! (Fellow (former-6yrs will wear one out) PTO pres. and OoTM coach here!!) I understand your busyness!
A honey-trip! Love!
You're brave for taking on the NYE crowds! Can't wait to hear what all you both did!

Oh, a kindred spirit!! Or a fellow crazy person. It can go either way, right??

We were so, so excited to be on a trip by ourselves! The trip kind of fell into our laps, I never entertained the idea of going over the New Year holiday, and I can't say I ever want to try it again, LOL, but I'm glad we went!

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Two Part Six

I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel of this chapter!! Plus, I'm now finished with my October report so this gets my full attention. Here we go!!

After dinner we decided to go over to the Launch Bay to see if we could figure out where to check in for our dessert party later. While there, we checked out the props and things, and got recruited by some Storm Troopers. They took us and lined us up with a few other guests and asked us questions

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You can see all the people watching us behind him. Not awkward at ALL, lol!! They didn't take kindly to photographs, which is why this one is blurry too

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The person behind him to the right looks so excited

We saw that the character wait lines weren't long, so we decided to jump on in. It was a 10 minute posted wait for BB-8

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This is the picture where I think I look like I ate him, haha! Not a flattering angle for me!

Chewie's wait was slightly longer, 25 minutes maybe? Could have been 30, but we had time to kill. I do know we didn't wait nearly as long as it was posted, more like 15 or possibly 20 minutes. We were chatting with the people in line around us so it made the time pass quickly.

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He was so much fun! He saw the porgs on my shirt and we talked about how annoying those little critters were. All he wanted was a nice meal, and they had to go and ruin it for him! I was completely star struck, and I'm really glad I waited until DH was with me before doing this meet and greet.

When we'd finished with Chewbacca, I realized it was time for Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam, so we went out to watch for awhile

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It left me in a happy holiday mood, and I was definitely ready for my major must do of the night - the Sunset Seasons Greetings show on the Tower of Terror! Snow in the streets?? Bring it on!!

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I loved how the billboards in the area changed depending on which scene was projected onto the Tower

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Particularly fun was the Muppets segment. I laughed so hard at the Swedish Chef's gingerbread house making. It was reminiscent of our own attempts

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Oopsie

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And you know I was just excited in general to see the Muppets

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This seemed like a good time to get some of that hot cocoa from our flight earlier in the day...you know, pre dessert party dessert drinks

Cherry bourbon for DH

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I got to eat the cherry b/c he hates them. I had the salted caramel one with Bailey's that I loved so much from the cocoa flight

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The only downside to these was the liquid amount was small compared to the giant glob of whipped cream. You know how sometimes when you have an iced drink in a cup with no lid and the ice all freezes and you take a drink and the ice smacks you in the face? It was like that but with whipped cream. Just one big game of Russian Roulette pie-face style!

We STILL had about an hour to kill (OMG, how late is this stupid dessert party anyway??) so I said, "why don't we go watch the Little Mermaid, it will eat up some time." If you read my October report you know I wasn't a mega fan of LM, but it does take up some time!

The crowds really died down in the area in front of the Chinese theater. I think everyone moved over to Sunset!

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Anyway, we were Mermaid bound

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I really want to be able to be in the room for Prince Eric tryouts for this show.

Qualifications: Must be able to lie motionless while wearing terrible wig.

It was FINALLY late enough to pick up our credentials for the dessert party. We got our lanyards and then decided to go watch the movie in the Launch Bay. We admired the posters...

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This one in particular:

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Why you ask?

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He's allllwaysss watching.

Up next as fast as I can type: Dessert party and finally calling it a night

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Two Part Seven

After the movie we went on into the dessert party. Please don't ever let me make dessert party reservations for a nighttime show that doesn't start until 10:30 pm ever again. Slap my hand, throw a rock at me, do whatever it takes! This was SUCH a long day!!

There are no chairs here, just standing room only tables.

Here are some of the desserts:

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This is the only picture I managed of the buffet itself. On the far left you'll see part of a pan - that's the loaded bread pudding. Covered in m&ms, pretzels, chocolate chips, etc. It was amazing, and they even topped it off with ice cream:

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I got a lot of different desserts, but I didn't eat many of them. This plate has blue milk panna cotta, a cherry almond tart thing, storm trooper sugar cookie and a vanilla cupcake with a white chocolate BB-8 figure on top and candy rocks

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Storm Troopers were wandering around...they were deeply offended by our shirts and said we'd better watch ourselves, we were aligned with the wrong side.

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Here's a better look at the bb8 cupcake

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The cupcake part was good and yes, I ate the little BB8. But the candy rocks were awful and I picked them off. I only had one bite of the almond cherry thing (it wasn't good, which was sad b/c I love that flavor combo), didn't touch the cookie, and had three blue milk panna cotta. They were weird and bland and delicious, all at the same time!

DH found the savory table, and brought over probably the best part of the whole dessert party. Skewers of cheese, tomato, and grapes, flatbread with two types of hummus.

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We were finished eating pretty quickly, but they told us we wouldn't get our gift if we left early, so we found a stairway to sit on. For about 45 minutes. There was so much downtime!

When it was finally time to go out to the viewing area for Movie Magic and Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, I got really excited. Part of the reason I wanted to book this was for the Chewbacca stein!!

Guess what??

We didn't get a Chewbacca stein

It was a BB-8 sipper cup. I was so disappointed. Like, way more disappointed than an adult needs to be about not getting a Chewbacca mug.

Anyway, we filtered out with the crowd to prepare for Movie Magic. We ended up right in front behind some bushes so we had to stand if we wanted to see

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The people behind us yelled at us to sit. I asked them if they wanted to switch spots and try to see over the bushes. They said they paid too much money to do that. Of course they did.

I didn't take a ton of pictures because I just wanted to watch. It was a nice show. It was also freezing, so I had to put on my hat and gloves and even though my gloves have the fingertip thing for using a touch screen, they were still a little awkward

We talked to the people next to us in the time between shows...they stood up to watch too, by the way!

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I did not like where we were standing. We could hardly see any of the fireworks, they were obscured by the theater. I wish we'd been farther back like we were for Jingle Bell Jingle Bam's dessert party the year before.

I was glad we had the experience, but it made for such a long day. I was exhausted and ready for bed.

After what was probably the easiest exit of any park closing I've ever had (it really cleared out after JBJB), we made our way to our home for the next two nights - All Star Movies. Thank goodness DH had gone back earlier to move our bags to the room so we didn't have to worry about it!

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I had booked a preferred room and requested the Toy Story section, but we ended up in 101 Dalmations. I was really glad about this after seeing our room location!

Our messy beds (i forgot to take pics before rifling through my suitcase)

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Tiny table and chairs

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sink area

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soap dispenser in the shower. Note there's no conditioner

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And our lone toiletry item

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No conditioner, no lotion. The one time I didn't bring any along because, "Well, I can just use what's already there..."

Of course.

Sorry for rushing through these last couple of updates, but I was SO READY to be finished with this DHS day. I'm ready for Magic Kingdom!!

That's where we'll be heading in the next update! I'll try to get at least one of those up tomorrow.

Have a great afternoon, Friends!

 

[Momee]

Oh, a kindred spirit!! Or a fellow crazy person. It can go either way, right??

Crazy for sure!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Part of the reason I wanted to book this was for the Chewbacca stein!!

Guess what??

We didn't get a Chewbacca stein

Yeah, they ran out of those back in August! For a while they were giving out the huge tie-fighter popcorn buckets (we now have 2), then switched to BB-8 sipper. Now its a Captain Phasma stein.

The people behind us yelled at us to sit. I asked them if they wanted to switch spots and try to see over the bushes. They said they paid too much money to do that. Of course they did.

So rude (on them, not you). When we went out people sat on the concrete until the show started, then everyone just stood up.

 

[Raeven]

This is the picture where I think I look like I ate him, haha! Not a flattering angle for me!

I think we had the same PP guy. I think he ran over from the Starlord meet and greet.

Particularly fun was the Muppets segment. I laughed so hard at the Swedish Chef's gingerbread house making. It was reminiscent of our own attempts

I liked that segment the best, but I liked the colors in the Toy Story one, and the song in the Olaf one...so I guess I liked them all.

Please don't ever let me make dessert party reservations for a nighttime show that doesn't start until 10:30 pm ever again.

Wow I don't think I've ever been when regular park hours were that late!

that's the loaded bread pudding. Covered in m&ms, pretzels, chocolate chips, etc. It was amazing, and they even topped it off with ice cream:

Yummy! I knew you'd love it!

vanilla cupcake with a white chocolate BB-8 figure on top and candy rocks

That's a new one. The rocks look...odd.

The cupcake part was good and yes, I ate the little BB8. But the candy rocks were awful and I picked them off. I only had one bite of the almond cherry thing (it wasn't good, which was sad b/c I love that flavor combo), didn't touch the cookie, and had three blue milk panna cotta. They were weird and bland and delicious, all at the same time!

That's how I felt! A lot of the desserts looked cool, but weren't the best tasting.

We were finished eating pretty quickly, but they told us we wouldn't get our gift if we left early, so we found a stairway to sit on. For about 45 minutes. There was so much downtime!

I guess I just ate that whole time

When it was finally time to go out to the viewing area for Movie Magic and Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, I got really excited. Part of the reason I wanted to book this was for the Chewbacca stein!!

Oh no!

no lotion. The one time I didn't bring any along because, "Well, I can just use what's already there..."

I have to bring my own special lotions with me My skin was so dry when we went in December that using the scrubs at Basin was painful. If I don't moisturize like 50 times a day in winter my skin hurts so bad.

 

[wdwnut61]

Wow that was a long day and I'm sorry you didn't get your Chewy stein
I would have been upset too I love Chewy and he gives the best hugs

 

[Smilelea]

Some of those desserts look tasty. I hate you didn't get your chewy stein. I hate it when you have your heart set on something and it doesn't happen.

I had booked a preferred room and requested the Toy Story section, but we ended up in 101 Dalmations. I was really glad about this after seeing our room location!

We loved the Toy Story section. We're actually going to try and make a quick visit in May just for our youngest to check it out. He was 7 months old the last time we were there but now he's obsessed with Buzz and Woody

soap dispenser in the shower. Note there's no conditioner

Is that new? We didn't have that when we were there in 2016.

 

[xlsm]

Crazy for sure!

Haha! I agree!! We went to Worlds with OOtM last year, but I don't know if I have the energy for it again! Part of the reason I encouraged them to pick the Classics problem this year was for more competition.

Yeah, they ran out of those back in August! For a while they were giving out the huge tie-fighter popcorn buckets (we now have 2), then switched to BB-8 sipper. Now its a Captain Phasma stein.


So rude (on them, not you). When we went out people sat on the concrete until the show started, then everyone just stood up.

Well, I admittedly hadn't paid too close attention to anything different being handed out. The last thing I'd seen on any reports or blogs was the Chewie stein There was another dad there who was as sad as I was, LOL!! He and his daughters had been all jazzed up about Chewie, too.

That's what I expected people to do, and had been my previous experience with sitting before a night show starts (although for my goodbye to Wishes trip last year, everyone stayed seated except for two guys up front, but no one complained, everyone just stood up also. I should have told those people at SWAGS that I'd be happy to sit on their laps I'm never shocked by anything people say at WDW anymore. My solo trip in May really opened my eyes to the full spectrum of rude guest behavior. Luckily the good always outweighs any bad moments

I think we had the same PP guy. I think he ran over from the Starlord meet and greet.

I liked that segment the best, but I liked the colors in the Toy Story one, and the song in the Olaf one...so I guess I liked them all.

Wow I don't think I've ever been when regular park hours were that late!

Yummy! I knew you'd love it!

That's a new one. The rocks look...odd.

That's how I felt! A lot of the desserts looked cool, but weren't the best tasting.

I guess I just ate that whole time

Oh no!

I have to bring my own special lotions with me My skin was so dry when we went in December that using the scrubs at Basin was painful. If I don't moisturize like 50 times a day in winter my skin hurts so bad.

I think so! I'd like to think that if I was a photopass person I'd maybe direct people who were standing awkwardly, but I guess that would take up too much time.

I liked them all too! I liked the snowy/icy stuff during the beginning of Olaf's song. The Muppets was my favorite, mainly b/c they featured Fozzie as a cookie shape!

me either! The latest it's ever been on any of my trips was 9 or 9:30 I think. We've done a couple of Fantasmics on those nights. If we hadn't been there all day, I think I would have held on better and not been so tired. We ended up at the park about two hours before I thought we'd get there...we were too excited, LOL

You had me so pumped up for that bread pudding It was by far my favorite thing. The rocks were weird. I thought they would be like hard candy or something, but they were kind of chewy...like a tootsie roll that had been sitting out somewhere for a week or two

I think we were still kind of full from dinner (and then the hot cocoa, oops!), even though we ate early. The no chairs thing was also annoying, mainly b/c we didn't get one of the tall tables, we ended up with a short one that was thigh height, so it was super awkward. I would have paid extra for a chair! they should have them available at the door for an add on...you're missing a money making opportunity, Disney!!

I usually bring my own lotion and conditioner, too. But this ONE time I thought, Oh, it's a shorter trip and we're moving halfway through...I'll be ok just using what's there. Of course. It's always the one time I risk it, LOL!!!

Wow that was a long day and I'm sorry you didn't get your Chewy stein
I would have been upset too I love Chewy and he gives the best hugs

It was exhausting, but we had a good time! My BB-8 sipper sits on a shelf in my closet where I keep my collection of Minnie ears and every time I look at it I feel bitter

Some of those desserts look tasty. I hate you didn't get your chewy stein. I hate it when you have your heart set on something and it doesn't happen.



We loved the Toy Story section. We're actually going to try and make a quick visit in May just for our youngest to check it out. He was 7 months old the last time we were there but now he's obsessed with Buzz and Woody



Is that new? We didn't have that when we were there in 2016.

Some of the desserts were really good, and some were just filler to make it look like more I think. The savory stuff and the bread pudding were the best by far, and I was really into those blue panna cotta cups. Something about that soft, bland, vanilla flavor is really comforting to me.

I think the Toy Story section decorations were my favorite for sure! I liked our location in Dalmations better than I think I'd have liked Toy Story though. It felt closer to the lobby. Toy Story seemed like it would be closer to the food court, but we didn't use that much.

Yes, the dispensers have appeared over the last six months to a year I think. I don't mind them, but I've read some strong opinions from those who definitely do mind them. I don't know how we managed to get two shampoos and no conditioner though. I could have mentioned something to housekeeping, but when we were getting ready, I was more focused on getting to the parks. I figured I could manage for two nights...when we got to Kidani I was so happy to see conditioner and lotion, LOL!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute pics with BB-8 and Chewie!

The Sunset Seasons projections look soo fun!

Argh sounds like a longggg night for you all! And that REALLY stinks about the Chewie stein, I would have been sad too!

 

[xlsm]

Good morning!! Wait, it's almost noon...let's still go with "good morning" so everything I have to do this afternoon seems further away!!

Why is it that busy times are never a one off?? They're like, a whole week (or sometimes month!) of things happening in rapid succession That's how this week is for me...but the end is in sight! If I can make it to next Tuesday, I'll be in the clear.

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day! We were busy with school stuff, but DH and I managed to go out to dinner ALONE. Both kids decided they were too tired to function after we finally got home last night, so they stayed home and we brought them food later. Nothing much special besides that, but it's a pretty rare occurrence so we take what we can get!

I am ready to finally move on with this report...DHS is behind us, and it's time to go to the Magic Kingdom!

Chapter Three: NYE dress rehearsal

When the possibility of this trip first became a thing, we had made the decision that we wanted to be in Epcot for New Year's Eve, because we knew MK would do Fantasy in the Sky on both nights. What I DIDN'T know at that point was that they'd show Fantasy in the Sky for BOTH shows on 12/30 - we were planning to stick around until midnight, but knowing that we could watch the same show early at 6:30 took a lot of pressure off. Plus, I couldn't ever find a dessert party spot for the later show!! That would be the only way to get me all the way to midnight

Our fast passes were scheduled for the afternoon, and we weren't worried about rides or anything. This day was just for being in the Magic Kingdom and taking in the pre-NYE excitement.

So we didn't get up as early as we might if we were heading for rope drop. We took our time getting ready and then explored All Star Movies.

I was excited to see all of the cute icons, but first, the outdoor view from our room:

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It wasn't quite as cute as the view from the other side, though!

Hello, Perdita!

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And hello, Pongo!

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I was really loving our 101 Dalmatians area!!

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What's he watching on tv, anyway??

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Me!

Up next was the Fantasia section. I had originally wanted to book this area until I saw a certain little someone who will pop up later...

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Here's the hat for anyone missing the DHS version (not me!)

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So why in the world wouldn't I want to stay in this section??

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that jack in the box freaks me out!!

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No thanks!

It was really cold so the pool was empty. I went inside the gate to take a picture of Mickey

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The poor lifeguards were out there patrolling, though. They actually told me where to stand for the best shot!

I couldn't wait to go check out Toy Story!

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This is the one shot I was able to get before some kids came over to climb on RC. And then their parent began screaming profanities at them. So, so magical

Let's hurry up and go inside Andy's room!!

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(so...what are they trying to accomplish here? I just mean, they have you go through Andy's door, which was one of my favorite details, but unlike Midway Mania when you shrink down to toy size, everything through the doorway is gigantic...are we shrunk down to ants??)

Bo Peep and Rex:

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Buzz

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And Woody! I love this shot:

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We were getting hungry, so we abandoned our resort tour and went to the food court.

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This food experience was not the best. We both had the breakfast flatbread, with eggs, sausage, bacon, and gravy, with tater tots.

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I was glad I'd picked up a container of pineapple from the cooler, because it was the only thing I ate. The tater tots were terrible. I don't think I've ever had bad tater tots before, how do you mess those up?? But they were flavorless and dry. The flatbread didn't have much flavor either. I threw away almost all of it, and my grandmother's exclamations about starving children were echoing in my brain!

Luckily, I was too excited about our next destination, that I didn't dwell on the bad breakfast for too long. We went to the bus stop and waited for our ride to the Magic Kingdom. We chatted with another adult couple and that helped pass the time! A few minutes later we were on our way!

There is NOTHING like arriving at the Magic Kingdom! No matter how excited I am to visit whatever first day park we have planned, coming to the Magic Kingdom is truly coming home!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143888229@N08/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143888229@N08/

That's it for right now, but tomorrow morning we'll keep things rolling! Happy Thursday!

 

[missangelalexis]

Love all your pics of All Star Movies! The only all stars I haven't stayed at!

Yay can't wait to hear about MK!

 

[xlsm]

Friday!! Woohoo!!

Does anyone have exciting plans for the weekend?? My exciting plans are to actually get out of the house and not have to worry about anything school related!! I think...ugh, now I'm kind of doubting myself. We'll probably go see Black Panther, which I'm pretty excited about. We are out of school on Monday, but I don't get the benefit of a bonus free day, because the entire Odyssey of the Mind team is coming over to put the final touches on all of their backgrounds and props.

In celebration of the weekend, let's indulge in a little Main Street magic!

Chapter Three Part Two



When you're suffering from a little bit of Christmas hangover in that weird week between December 25 and New Year's Day, sometimes you need a little pick me up to get back into a jolly mood. You know what helps??





We just slowly meandered, taking in the atmosphere, and enjoying the fact that we were really HERE.

We admired the holiday windows. I was happy to see that they depicted Mickey's Christmas Carol like the year before. (The only Christmas Carol better than Mickey's is Muppets)



We popped into the Emporium, because I wanted to buy some ufufy.

What's an ufufy you wonder??



Pretty much the cutest thing ever. I wanted all of them, but mainly Minnie for myself, and then one each for the boys. Ultimately I made the decision to wait until our last MK day to make the purchase. We couldn't send them back to our resort b/c we were switching the next day. I resisted temporarily, but then I found this:



and had a really hard time saying no. I look this up on the shop parks app a lot, but I haven't bought her yet. I have a few plush that I keep on a shelf in my closet next to my collection of Minnie ears, and I have just enough room for this Minnie. Hm...

We heard some music outside and I realized it was time for Move It, Shake It. I've caught bits and pieces of this parade several times, but I don't think I've ever stopped to watch the whole thing. We decided today was the day for that!



I don't think a parade exists with more enthusiastic performers.

Raise the roof, Jessie!



I'm pretending Stitch is pointing at ME!



And let's face it, the real stars of the whole shebang:



It was a beautiful, clear day...let's take a minute to admire the castle in the midst of the Main Street decorations



Back to our regularly scheduled program...





As the parade rolled past, we followed it up closer to the Hub to get some castle pictures and some photopass pictures





While we were up there we noticed that Mr. Incredible was called away to deal with a superhero emergency



We were not in any kind of hurry today. We knew crowds would be insane. Our only goals were lunch, our three fastpasses, and fireworks. Because I had made our fastpasses for a little later in the afternoon, we had quite a bit of time before they were due to open. We decided to just head toward Adventureland





and see what was happening over there. (and if you followed my October TR, you'll notice the walls that popped up on that trip are still there. What are they doing there, does anyone know?)

We had a fast pass for Pirates later, but when we saw the wait time was 40 minutes, we thought, "Why not?" and decided to go on in. As soon as we got closer it jumped to 50



The wait here is not all that bad, so I figured it was inflated. I started timing to see how long it was actually going to take. Once we got in line, I immediately got on the app to change our Pirates fast pass to something else. Imagine my surprise when one for Peter Pan was available. I snagged it!



The line moved pretty much constantly. Normally when I go through the standby line here, it's just walking straight through to get to the loading area and I don't spend much time looking around. The benefit of a slightly slower moving line was taking time to look around. It had been a lot of years since I paid attention to everything.



Before long (only about 20 minutes, actually - take that 50 minute posted wait!!) we were boarding our boat and sailing through the Caribbean.



"We wants the redhead...........to be a positive influence on the girls of today, tomorrow, and the future!"



This was the moment I became impressed with the camera on my phone!! I have never, ever managed anything close to a good photo of this scene!

Because this park day was about taking things slow and just enjoying being in the park, I had one big thing I wanted to do. Something I had never done before - Tom Sawyer's Island. After leaving the Caribbean, we started heading toward Frontierland.

When we got there, we heard some music and noticed CMs blocking the pathway. There were several marching bands performing, I had totally forgotten about that!



Once this group finished, we were allowed to cross. We decided to stay put for a few minutes and watch the next group, too. There was a lull between bands so we admired Splash Mountain



I was so excited to see it up and running after the closure on my October trip. We were prepared with fast passes for after lunch. It was chilly so we weren't quite sure if we were brave or crazy.



The next band came through:



and then we kept moving toward the raft launch for Tom Sawyer's Island.

I need to upload some more pictures to Flickr before I can do another update, but I should get at least one more up today!

 

[missangelalexis]

Great MK pics! I love that little Minnie stuffie, so adorable!

That's awesome that the Pirates standby long wasn't as long as advertised!

 

[Lesley Wake]

We admired the holiday windows. I was happy to see that they depicted Mickey's Christmas Carol like the year before.

I really love those! I hope they have them up again this December!

I resisted temporarily, but then I found this:



and had a really hard time saying no. I look this up on the shop parks app a lot, but I haven't bought her yet. I have a few plush that I keep on a shelf in my closet next to my collection of Minnie ears, and I have just enough room for this Minnie. Hm...

If you don't go back and get it, I will be very very disappointed in you!

Before long (only about 20 minutes, actually - take that 50 minute posted wait!!) we were boarding our boat and sailing through the Caribbean.

Sweet!

"We wants the redhead...........to be a positive influence on the girls of today, tomorrow, and the future!"

 

[wdwnut61]

Great pics from MK beautiful!
Saw Black Panther last night really liked it
Hope you get to see it this weekend